Magnetic Anomaly
Weaver of Tales
Inner Sanctum Nobility
Bruce and Katherine Swan parked at their favorite beach. They'd been going there on their anniversary every year for the entirety of their forty odd years of marriage. Their relationship was far from perfect, but they loved each other and never gave up on one another. Bruce held his wife as they made their way down to the beach, smiling and reminiscing on their life together.
He had been fresh out of the military and starting a new life. He was new to the company that hired him and felt so utterly alone. The people kept to themselves mostly, giving him a wide berth whenever he roamed from his office. He had suffered from PTSD and was barely sleeping, had no friends and got anxious around large groups of people, especially around loud noises. He had been lonely and depressed until the day he ran into Katherine.
For whatever reason he decided to venture to the campus cafeteria that morning before starting on his work for the day. He remembered the noise…it had been so loud and overwhelming that he had nearly turned around and opted out of breakfast, but then he'd heard someone scream his name.
"Bruce!" It was a woman's voice, barely audible over the morning buzz and chatter of the lunch room. He hadn't even had the time to process what was happening when arms flung around him in a tight embrace, a face buried in his shoulder.
It was Katherine, an old friend from high school he had lost touch with throughout his service. They had never been more than friends, but some of his fondest memories from school were with the woman. He remembered the warmth and the hope that had swelled within him when he returned the embrace, and from that moment on they had been inseparable. Even now, after all the years of marriage, Bruce still loved Katherine with every fiber of his being. In fact, their love had only ever grown stronger. That's the funny thing about love…the hard times eventually fade away, leaving only the good times to recall when couples were lucky enough to make it that far.
The couple reached the sand and found a nice spot on some driftwood with plenty of time to relax before the sunset. He continued holding her as they gazed out toward the horizon. In her youth she had been the one to keep him warm, but as they got older the ocean breeze learned how to chill her to the bone, and so the roles had been reversed. This was Katherine's favorite place. The beach was one of the first places she'd ever taken Bruce. She told him it was the most magical place in the world, and even though it seemed like an ordinary beach to him in every way, he had never disputed her claim. Perhaps he was just too smitten, but he liked to think he was preserving the child-like spirit that nestled within her, what little was left of it anyway.
They had shared so many stories laying on this beach; so many romantic and intimate memories were attached to the place. They had made love on the beach under the infinite majesty of the unencumbered night sky. They'd made life-long friends out of total strangers walking on these sands. They'd spoken their vows and gotten married there, raised a family and brought their children many times over the years. Music and dancing, bonfires and parties, cuddles, kisses, and the laughter! Bruce opened his bag and pulled a couple beverages out, toasting the love of his life.
"Happy anniversary my love. My heart will always be yours." He told her, his smile wearing the wrinkles of a lifetime of experience. There was no need for her to respond. He knew exactly how she felt, and their embrace tightened as they looked to the horizon, awaiting the unparalleled beauty of the sun setting where the ocean met the sky. He gave her a kiss as it started and they watched the sun slowly slip away from their world, inviting darkness across the land. Bruce sipped on his drink all the while they took it in, basking in the beauty that never left them disappointed…always leaving them in awe and filled with love and wonder.
As the darkness chased the last remaining remnants of another year away, Bruce pulled away from Katherine and looked at his wife as he rested his hands upon her. "You saved me you know." He told her. "You taught me how to live again. How to enjoy the beauty of life. You woke me up inside…a part of me I didn't even know existed and I'll love you forever for it." A tear slid down his cheek as he finished his drink and gave her a smile once more. A couple shooting stars whizzed past overhead, and the milky way was now visible. "Why did you have to go? I miss you so much."
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he cradled the jar of Katherine's ashes in his lap. He opened another beer and started washing that one down as well. "I wish I could just talk to you one last time…" He was on the verge of sobbing, but pulled himself together. Katherine had asked for her ashes to be scattered along her beach, but after six years Bruce still couldn't bring himself to fulfill her wishes. Their son had offered to do it for him, and their daughter offered to go with him and help…to be there for him, but he didn't want to put it on them. He promised them both he'd finally do it though, and he unscrewed the lid from the jar.
"I miss you so much!" He cried, heaving as he began stepping toward the water. "I don't want to do this anymore…not without you!" Bruce stepped into the wet sand and kept walking forward. He was mentally preparing himself to finally scatter her ashes into the waves. The sunset and the stars that quickly followed were her favorite part of the beach. The time was now. Bruce wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his jacket and gripped the jar. "We will see each other again, I promise."
Just as the man was about to scatter her ashes his chest tightened up, and the heartbreak that had been squeezing the cavity from the inside slid down into his stomach. He changed his mind at the last second and pulled the jar in to his chest, embracing his love, unable to let her go, but the movement as the tide came in and past his legs caused his world to spin. Bruce nearly collapsed into the water but he saved himself and in doing so accidentally let the jar slip from his grip. As the water receded back into the ocean it had taken his Katherine as well, he realized as he examined the empty jar.
The old man cried like a baby, collapsing to his knees, his head hanging down in defeat. He lost his wife all over again and the heart wrenching pain that followed was enough for him to follow her into the watery depths, but as that thought solidified into a plan the tide came back in with a crashing wave. The wave was glowing blue, Katherine's favorite color, and Bruce swept the jar into the water out of pure instinct. Nothing but desperation drove the action, but she'd already been lost and it was the best he could do. He brought it up to his face to examine it and his eyes were wide with wonder. There, in the jar that had held his wife's ashes just moments earlier, now held glowing sea water.
When Bruce got home he placed the jar on the dresser and clambered into bed. He struggled with the night's events as he lied there, the soft blue glow illuminating the room. He felt torn. On the one hand, he finally scattered Katherine's ashes like he should've years prior, and on the other he was not ready to do so. However, the magical glowing water that appeared afterward seemed to be a decent replacement for the man, suppressing the heartbreak he would've surely felt otherwise. His mind raced though as Katherine filled every crevice of his thoughts.
Bruce had never felt so warm or safe from a simple touch, but his late wife had the affect on him. She knew him inside and out, and even when there was nothing to say to each other her presence filled him with peace and tranquility. More than that though, she filled him with love…an unconditional love he'd never known apart from their children. Strangely, he felt that from the ominous blue glow that emanated from the jar, and soon fell asleep. She held him and whispered sweet words in his ear. Her hand traced along his skin and her lips pressed against his face. They embraced each other on the beach and stargazed for what seemed like hours, bantering back and forth and laughing at one another's quirky mannerisms. As the sun rose she turned to him and her body stiffened as if a realization had just dawned on her with the new day. She looked at him inquisitively, an accusation on her lips. "Why didn't you answer Bruce? This is your fault!"
Bruce sat up in bed, tears streaming down his cheeks. He wiped them away as he stood up and stumbled into the kitchen. He started brewing some coffee and then sat outside and waited for it to finish. When it was done he went back outside and began sipping it when his phone rang. It was his daughter. "Hi sweetie." He answered.
"Were you able to…" She began to ask and trailed off.
Bruce rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah I did it." He answered.
"Thank you, dad, that's really good." She replied. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
Bruce suddenly remembered the jar of water. He stood up and carried his coffee into the house and headed to his room. "Yeah…" He choked on the word. "Yes, I'm good, I'm okay. Thank you for asking. Something incredible happened though. You won't believe it." He told his daughter.
"Oh yeah?" She asked. "What happened?"
As Bruce walked into his room though, the first thing he noticed was the absence of the jar. His heart began racing. "Dad?" He heard his daughter ask. Bruce gasped as he noticed the jar on the floor at the foot of the bed, open and empty.
"What is it? Is everything okay?"
Bruce felt as though his soul were being ripped in half. "Carol let me…" He stammered. "Can I call you back please?"
"Okay…" She started to say.
"Thanks sweetie. I love you."
"Love you too dad…"
He hung up the phone and collapsed to his knees. He started feeling the rug for any signs of spilled water but there were none. The rug was dry. He began desperately searching the floor for spilled water but the more he searched and found nothing but dry floor the more frantic he became in his search. Tears began dropping to the floor and he sat up against the end of the bed, his breaths coming heavy, and he wiped his face.
"What's wrong?" He heard a familiar voice ask.
His heart stopped. The voice was sweet and compassionate, and though familiar, it was oddly foreign. It had a melodic ring to it, but there was no mistaking Katherine's voice. Bruce didn't look at first. What if it was some twisted trick of his brain caused by the overwhelming sadness that she was actually gone now, and she wasn't really there? "Are you okay?" The voice asked again. He looked then, and there in the room with him was something miraculous and out of this world beautiful.
There was a small woman, about the size of a six-year-old girl though full figured, except it wasn't a woman. Her skin was blue and reminded him of a jellyfish, and she was glowing much like a jellyfish might…much like the water in the jar had. Her hair wasn't hair but tendrils, like one might see sprouting from a sea anemone, but they were assorted on her head in such a way they resembled Katherine's favorite hairstyle when they were younger.
Other than those obviously inhuman differences, the woman before him was his Katherine. She had Katherine's face…her eyes. Though they were not human eyes they were still Katherine's eyes. She had her smile, and she looked at him with compassion and worry much like Katherine had throughout the decades of their relationship anytime he wasn't okay. She had always known when he wasn't okay, even when he tried to weather the storm on his own. He found no joy in worrying her, and he never sought her pity or attention in that way. Bruce stared in disbelief. "Yes…" He said unsure of himself. "I think so. Is that really you Kat?"
The small woman tilted her head and studied him. "Kat?" She asked, more to herself than to him. "…I don't know." She came closer to him, never taking her eyes off of him, and continued studying his face. She lifted a hand to his face and touched his cheek gently, much like Katherine would on so many occasions. "What's your name?"
Bruce choked on his words. He couldn't believe what was happening but it was a miracle! It took every fiber of his being not to burst out in tears before the magnificence of the glowing image of his late wife. Swallowing the emotions clumping in his throat, he placed a hand over her hand upon his cheek, something he would've done before. Other than a smooth texture and cooler temperature, it wasn't too strange. A shudder ran through the woman's body as their hands met, and she looked at him lovingly. "My name is Bruce." He told her.
"Bruce…" She echoed. "Bruce…" She repeated his name several times, and each time she spoke it with more confidence, as if it were a name she'd heard a million times. "I know that name…"
Bruce choked again, a single tear running down his cheek. "Yes, you do Katherine."
The blue woman withdrew her hand from his face and placed it over her heart, or where a human's heart would be. "Katherine…"
Bruce smiled, his lips quivering. "Yes. Do you remember?"
She shook her head. "It's familiar, but I don't remember anything."
An idea came over Bruce and he got up and took her hand. "Come with me." He said. "I have an idea!" He walked her through the house and showed her all the family pictures on the walls, her favorite chair, things of hers that he'd held onto and the view outside the house. Each thing he showed her seemed to send another shudder through her body and she would show signs of recognition, especially looking at the pictures of their children.
They sat outside on the bench they used to share when she was alive. They looked out to the lake and the trees they had fallen in love with when they originally bought the home. The closest neighbors were a quarter of a mile in either direction and Bruce wasn't the least bit concerned about anyone seeing the little blue woman. She gazed out into the lake in awe and stood up, moving slowly toward the water, but with each step her pace hastened.
"Be careful!" Bruce yelled after her before getting up and following her to the shore. She ran straight into the water disappearing beneath the surface. Bruce quickened his pace and attempted to run when she vanished under the water, but he tripped and fell to the ground hard, crying out in pain as he did so. The woman popped out of the water laughing and splashing, reveling in the element that had gifted her life. She flew through the water as if she were a bird flying through the air, effortlessly and grinning from ear to ear all the while.
"Hey!" She yelled for Bruce. "Come join me!" When she got no response, she looked around concerned and was stepping out from the lake a moment later. She ran up to him when she spotted him. "Are you okay?" She asked alarmingly. She helped him up and he was grunting in pain. She wrapped him in a hug and her body pulsed with a brighter glow than before. Bruce realized he was being held by a full-sized woman now, one the exact height and frame of Katherine when they had first met, and squeezed her back. He began to sob in her arms.
"Oh no!" She cried as her arms loosened around him. "Did I hurt you?" But Bruce didn't let her let go, burying his face into her.
"No, no, no!" He cried in response. "You could never hurt me Kat." He felt his body lighten. Suddenly, the pain from his fall had seceded, and then the arthritis in his limbs stopped throbbing. His joints no longer fought against him, and his back pain was gone. He pulled away just enough to see her body pulsing with light, but with each pulse the brightness of her glow dimmed. "Stop!" He pleaded.
Katherine pulled away and the look on her face told Bruce she was confused and hurt. "No, Kat, I didn't mean it like that." He said. "I feel a lot better, thank you, but you don't need to keep helping me if it's hurting you. Please, just a hug." They embraced one another and her body just continued glowing as it had before. "You're bigger now," he told her. "Was it the water?"
"I think so!" She said gleefully, a wide smile on her beautiful face. "Come! It's amazing!" She pulled him to the water and he stripped down to his underwear. He went in with her and she held him as she moved through the water gracefully and he found himself grinning just as much as her. The wind against his face as they sped around the lake reminded him of what it felt like to go horseback riding, free and boundless. They laughed together and by the time they left the water Bruce felt like a young man again.
When they finally went inside he showed her the family photo album she had put together in her previous life, and looking through it together it seemed like every page they flipped her eyes got bigger and brighter. "Bruce…" She said suddenly, and with a grin on her face. "I remember! Oh Bruce!" She wrapped him in a hug and kissed him. He held onto her tightly with all his soul he held her. He buried his face against her neck, his eyes glossing over.
"I'm so sorry I didn't answer your call that day!" He cried. "I had so much going on…I was going to call back but…"
"Shhhh…" Katherine shushed him as she rocked him in her arms. "It wasn't your fault honey. Don't do that to yourself." Bruce buckled under the pain of the guilt he'd been carrying around for years, blaming himself for the accident that had taken his wife's life. If he would have answered her call that day maybe things would've turned out differently. Maybe she wouldn't have died, but by the time he was able to call her back it was too late. She was already gone. She'd forgiven him…it wasn't his fault, and she still loved him anyways.
They cried and kissed and held each other for what seemed like hours. They made love, embracing one another, and talked until time itself forgot about them. He told her all about their children and their lives. Then he remembered he was supposed to call their daughter back. Katherine remained quiet as he made the call.
"Hey dad, everything okay?" She asked when she picked up.
"Hi sweetie." He said. He looked over and saw Katherine tear up at the sound of her voice. "Yeah, everything is okay. Thanks for checking in. I love you." They spoke for a few minutes before getting off the phone, and Katherine seemed sad that she could not tell her daughter she loved her as well, but so happy to hear her voice.
The next couple weeks were magical for Bruce and Katherine. They spent all their time doing all the things they used to do together, so long as it didn't involve exposing her to other people. She was fine with that because she knew no good would come of it. They held each other like they never wanted to let go, and would lie together talking all night. Bruce's heart was full again. He tried to invite the kids over but Katherine wouldn't let him. They had already made peace with her passing and she didn't want to stir anything up for them.
They spent a lot of their time in the lake. Bruce felt young again every time Katherine pulled him along the water faster than any boat he'd ever been on. She loved being in the water just as much. One of the days when they left the water Katherine found an injured bird struggling to move. She healed it the same way she had healed Bruce, and it flew away. She felt herself grow weaker, but she didn't mind. She had always had a kind selfless heart and she was now able to help in a way she hadn't before.
Another day while Bruce napped peacefully, Katherine spotted a familiar dog wandering nearby. It was one of their neighbors' dogs, a lab that the neighbor's children absolutely adored. It collapsed in a thicket of trees and Katherine approached it sensing something was wrong. She felt the animal's heart failing somehow, and her presence didn't disturb it one bit. It just lied there whining quietly. Soon the dog was as good as new and running home.
Another week would pass and Bruce noticed her glow had been slowly fading. She assured him she was fine but he did everything he could to help her. He gave her salt baths in the tub and tried taking her into the lake. He tried everything and anything he could think of but her glow just kept fading, slowly yet surely. A distraught Bruce begged her to tell him if there was anything he could do to help but she just smiled and told him he already had. Bruce promised her he'd figure something out, but continued giving her salt baths because it was the only thing that seemed to bring some of her glow back.
One night as she laid in the tub there was a knock on the door. She heard Bruce answer it and invite the visitors in. It was their son Jacob and his wife Sharon. She desperately wanted to see him, but she knew it wasn't wise. She remained in the tub and a little while later Bruce came to check on her.
"You're aging." He said sadly. "I don't want to lose you again." He kneeled at the tub, tears welling up in his eyes. "What do we do?" Katherine smiled at him and shook her head.
"None of that…the time we've had has been magical." She replied. "How is Jacob?" One look at the woman and Bruce knew he wasn't going to be able to divert the conversation back to her health.
"He's good." He said. "Carol asked him to check on me I guess. I assured him everything was fine, but he knows when I'm not okay. He insisted they stay the night." Katherine gave him a look. "I know. I tried telling him it isn't necessary, but he isn't taking no for an answer. They already unloaded the car and…"
Katherine put a finger over Bruce's lips. "Calm honey. Everything will be okay." She pulled him in close and held his head in her hands, kissing his forehead. "Our children love you. Let them love you."
Later that night as Bruce, Jacob and Sharon slept, Katherine sensed something was amiss. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but it was similar to how she felt when she approached the neighbor's dog, except different somehow. She quietly made her way through the house, following the sensation as it grew stronger and stronger until she got to the spare bedroom where her son and his wife slept. She felt life slipping away, and in a panic, she opened the door thinking one of them was in peril.
Her son and his wife were sleeping peacefully however, and a confused Katherine wandered the room double checking and triple checking that everything was okay. Jacob and Sharon were just fine, but the sensation that life was slipping away was an urgent and alarming one, begging for her intervention. She approached Jacob first, illuminating him in a soft blue glow. Her hands hovering over his body, she checked for any signs of injury but he was perfectly okay.
She moved on to Sharon, repeating the same motions with her hands and stopped as they hovered above her abdomen. She was with child. Katherine's eyes popped open, tears running down her cheeks. They were tears of happiness, and tears of sadness. The fetus was only ten or so weeks old, but something was wrong with it. It wouldn't make it through the night. She had to move quickly.
Placing her hands on the sleeping woman's stomach, Katherine began using her healing ability, and her body pulsed with light as she did so. Nothing else mattered to the mother. As she finished the process she heard a gasp and looked up to see Sharon staring at her with wide terrified eyes…and she screamed.
"What!" Jacob cried as he shot out of bed, waving his arms at an invisible intruder. "What is it?" But he saw the glowing figure in the room as the words came out. He just stared at her, tilting his head, not screaming or attempting to rescue his wife. He just looked at Katherine. Not with eyes full of fear, terror, or anger, but with eyes full of recognition and confusion. "Mom?" The words were quiet and uncertain, but Katherine smiled and nodded, tears running down her cheeks once more.
Without asking any questions, he wrapped his mother up in tight hug. Bruce watched from the hallway as they embraced each other, Jacob's shoulders bobbing up and down as he sobbed into his mother. Sharon didn't know what to do or what to say, and when her eyes met Bruce's, she finally spoke up. "What were you doing to me?" She asked Katherine.
Jacob finally pulled away from his mother and looked to his wife, and then back to his mom. Katherine wasn't sure how to respond though. Did they know she was with child? She inhaled deeply before explaining herself, but before she could get a single word out she collapsed.
When Katherine came to she was greeted by Bruce, Jacob, Sharon and her daughter Carol. They all exchanged loving embraces and Bruce, having explained what had happened that night on the beach already, let them have their time with their mother. He knew something had happened as Katherine's glow had greatly diminished and she had aged quite a bit since earlier that night. He fought the heartache growing within him. "What happened back there?" He asked after everyone got reacquainted with Katherine.
She looked at Sharon, who was locked onto her, her hands covering her stomach. "Sharon," Katherine said to her. "You were about to lose your child. I had to do something. I'm sorry if you felt violated at all."
The news came as a shock to everyone, and suddenly there was another reason for everyone to celebrate. The five of them spent the next week together being a family again. Everyone seemed in such high spirits, even Bruce's heart seemed full despite Katherine's condition and its steady decline. He was cherishing every moment he got to spend with Katherine and their children.
Finally, Carol asked what was on everyone's mind. "You can't stay, can you?"
Katherine held back her tears, shook her head, and hugged her children. "It's a miracle I got to come back at all…" She waved Sharon over and placed a hand on her stomach. "And now you get to have a miracle of your own." Then Sharon started crying.
"There has to be something we can do…" Jacob insisted, always the stubborn one just like his father. Bruce wrapped him in a hug, and kissed his forehead.
"There's only one thing left to do." He shocked himself and everyone else in the room. A strange peace settled inside of him then.
The very next evening, after a day of celebration and love, the family parked at the beach. They made their way down to the sand, stepping over driftwood and rocks, until the tide was mere feet away. Katherine was Bruce's age now, and she hugged and kissed each of her children including Sharon. They said their goodbyes, and she insisted she would always be with them. Bruce and Katherine Swan held each other as they walked into the water, just as they had on countless other occasions. Their relationship, like anyone else's, wasn't perfect, but their love for one another knew no bounds.
They shared one last hug as the moon cast its light upon them. "You're going to be a wonderful grandfather." She told her husband as she gave him one last kiss. "I love you Bruce."
"I love you too Kat," He said as he looked into the depths of his love's eyes for the last time. "I'll see you again." They smiled warmly, and as the next wave hit their feet Katherine's body collapsed into the sea, a glow dispersing with the tide.
For Katie.
He had been fresh out of the military and starting a new life. He was new to the company that hired him and felt so utterly alone. The people kept to themselves mostly, giving him a wide berth whenever he roamed from his office. He had suffered from PTSD and was barely sleeping, had no friends and got anxious around large groups of people, especially around loud noises. He had been lonely and depressed until the day he ran into Katherine.
For whatever reason he decided to venture to the campus cafeteria that morning before starting on his work for the day. He remembered the noise…it had been so loud and overwhelming that he had nearly turned around and opted out of breakfast, but then he'd heard someone scream his name.
"Bruce!" It was a woman's voice, barely audible over the morning buzz and chatter of the lunch room. He hadn't even had the time to process what was happening when arms flung around him in a tight embrace, a face buried in his shoulder.
It was Katherine, an old friend from high school he had lost touch with throughout his service. They had never been more than friends, but some of his fondest memories from school were with the woman. He remembered the warmth and the hope that had swelled within him when he returned the embrace, and from that moment on they had been inseparable. Even now, after all the years of marriage, Bruce still loved Katherine with every fiber of his being. In fact, their love had only ever grown stronger. That's the funny thing about love…the hard times eventually fade away, leaving only the good times to recall when couples were lucky enough to make it that far.
The couple reached the sand and found a nice spot on some driftwood with plenty of time to relax before the sunset. He continued holding her as they gazed out toward the horizon. In her youth she had been the one to keep him warm, but as they got older the ocean breeze learned how to chill her to the bone, and so the roles had been reversed. This was Katherine's favorite place. The beach was one of the first places she'd ever taken Bruce. She told him it was the most magical place in the world, and even though it seemed like an ordinary beach to him in every way, he had never disputed her claim. Perhaps he was just too smitten, but he liked to think he was preserving the child-like spirit that nestled within her, what little was left of it anyway.
They had shared so many stories laying on this beach; so many romantic and intimate memories were attached to the place. They had made love on the beach under the infinite majesty of the unencumbered night sky. They'd made life-long friends out of total strangers walking on these sands. They'd spoken their vows and gotten married there, raised a family and brought their children many times over the years. Music and dancing, bonfires and parties, cuddles, kisses, and the laughter! Bruce opened his bag and pulled a couple beverages out, toasting the love of his life.
"Happy anniversary my love. My heart will always be yours." He told her, his smile wearing the wrinkles of a lifetime of experience. There was no need for her to respond. He knew exactly how she felt, and their embrace tightened as they looked to the horizon, awaiting the unparalleled beauty of the sun setting where the ocean met the sky. He gave her a kiss as it started and they watched the sun slowly slip away from their world, inviting darkness across the land. Bruce sipped on his drink all the while they took it in, basking in the beauty that never left them disappointed…always leaving them in awe and filled with love and wonder.
As the darkness chased the last remaining remnants of another year away, Bruce pulled away from Katherine and looked at his wife as he rested his hands upon her. "You saved me you know." He told her. "You taught me how to live again. How to enjoy the beauty of life. You woke me up inside…a part of me I didn't even know existed and I'll love you forever for it." A tear slid down his cheek as he finished his drink and gave her a smile once more. A couple shooting stars whizzed past overhead, and the milky way was now visible. "Why did you have to go? I miss you so much."
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he cradled the jar of Katherine's ashes in his lap. He opened another beer and started washing that one down as well. "I wish I could just talk to you one last time…" He was on the verge of sobbing, but pulled himself together. Katherine had asked for her ashes to be scattered along her beach, but after six years Bruce still couldn't bring himself to fulfill her wishes. Their son had offered to do it for him, and their daughter offered to go with him and help…to be there for him, but he didn't want to put it on them. He promised them both he'd finally do it though, and he unscrewed the lid from the jar.
"I miss you so much!" He cried, heaving as he began stepping toward the water. "I don't want to do this anymore…not without you!" Bruce stepped into the wet sand and kept walking forward. He was mentally preparing himself to finally scatter her ashes into the waves. The sunset and the stars that quickly followed were her favorite part of the beach. The time was now. Bruce wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his jacket and gripped the jar. "We will see each other again, I promise."
Just as the man was about to scatter her ashes his chest tightened up, and the heartbreak that had been squeezing the cavity from the inside slid down into his stomach. He changed his mind at the last second and pulled the jar in to his chest, embracing his love, unable to let her go, but the movement as the tide came in and past his legs caused his world to spin. Bruce nearly collapsed into the water but he saved himself and in doing so accidentally let the jar slip from his grip. As the water receded back into the ocean it had taken his Katherine as well, he realized as he examined the empty jar.
The old man cried like a baby, collapsing to his knees, his head hanging down in defeat. He lost his wife all over again and the heart wrenching pain that followed was enough for him to follow her into the watery depths, but as that thought solidified into a plan the tide came back in with a crashing wave. The wave was glowing blue, Katherine's favorite color, and Bruce swept the jar into the water out of pure instinct. Nothing but desperation drove the action, but she'd already been lost and it was the best he could do. He brought it up to his face to examine it and his eyes were wide with wonder. There, in the jar that had held his wife's ashes just moments earlier, now held glowing sea water.
When Bruce got home he placed the jar on the dresser and clambered into bed. He struggled with the night's events as he lied there, the soft blue glow illuminating the room. He felt torn. On the one hand, he finally scattered Katherine's ashes like he should've years prior, and on the other he was not ready to do so. However, the magical glowing water that appeared afterward seemed to be a decent replacement for the man, suppressing the heartbreak he would've surely felt otherwise. His mind raced though as Katherine filled every crevice of his thoughts.
Bruce had never felt so warm or safe from a simple touch, but his late wife had the affect on him. She knew him inside and out, and even when there was nothing to say to each other her presence filled him with peace and tranquility. More than that though, she filled him with love…an unconditional love he'd never known apart from their children. Strangely, he felt that from the ominous blue glow that emanated from the jar, and soon fell asleep. She held him and whispered sweet words in his ear. Her hand traced along his skin and her lips pressed against his face. They embraced each other on the beach and stargazed for what seemed like hours, bantering back and forth and laughing at one another's quirky mannerisms. As the sun rose she turned to him and her body stiffened as if a realization had just dawned on her with the new day. She looked at him inquisitively, an accusation on her lips. "Why didn't you answer Bruce? This is your fault!"
Bruce sat up in bed, tears streaming down his cheeks. He wiped them away as he stood up and stumbled into the kitchen. He started brewing some coffee and then sat outside and waited for it to finish. When it was done he went back outside and began sipping it when his phone rang. It was his daughter. "Hi sweetie." He answered.
"Were you able to…" She began to ask and trailed off.
Bruce rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah I did it." He answered.
"Thank you, dad, that's really good." She replied. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
Bruce suddenly remembered the jar of water. He stood up and carried his coffee into the house and headed to his room. "Yeah…" He choked on the word. "Yes, I'm good, I'm okay. Thank you for asking. Something incredible happened though. You won't believe it." He told his daughter.
"Oh yeah?" She asked. "What happened?"
As Bruce walked into his room though, the first thing he noticed was the absence of the jar. His heart began racing. "Dad?" He heard his daughter ask. Bruce gasped as he noticed the jar on the floor at the foot of the bed, open and empty.
"What is it? Is everything okay?"
Bruce felt as though his soul were being ripped in half. "Carol let me…" He stammered. "Can I call you back please?"
"Okay…" She started to say.
"Thanks sweetie. I love you."
"Love you too dad…"
He hung up the phone and collapsed to his knees. He started feeling the rug for any signs of spilled water but there were none. The rug was dry. He began desperately searching the floor for spilled water but the more he searched and found nothing but dry floor the more frantic he became in his search. Tears began dropping to the floor and he sat up against the end of the bed, his breaths coming heavy, and he wiped his face.
"What's wrong?" He heard a familiar voice ask.
His heart stopped. The voice was sweet and compassionate, and though familiar, it was oddly foreign. It had a melodic ring to it, but there was no mistaking Katherine's voice. Bruce didn't look at first. What if it was some twisted trick of his brain caused by the overwhelming sadness that she was actually gone now, and she wasn't really there? "Are you okay?" The voice asked again. He looked then, and there in the room with him was something miraculous and out of this world beautiful.
There was a small woman, about the size of a six-year-old girl though full figured, except it wasn't a woman. Her skin was blue and reminded him of a jellyfish, and she was glowing much like a jellyfish might…much like the water in the jar had. Her hair wasn't hair but tendrils, like one might see sprouting from a sea anemone, but they were assorted on her head in such a way they resembled Katherine's favorite hairstyle when they were younger.
Other than those obviously inhuman differences, the woman before him was his Katherine. She had Katherine's face…her eyes. Though they were not human eyes they were still Katherine's eyes. She had her smile, and she looked at him with compassion and worry much like Katherine had throughout the decades of their relationship anytime he wasn't okay. She had always known when he wasn't okay, even when he tried to weather the storm on his own. He found no joy in worrying her, and he never sought her pity or attention in that way. Bruce stared in disbelief. "Yes…" He said unsure of himself. "I think so. Is that really you Kat?"
The small woman tilted her head and studied him. "Kat?" She asked, more to herself than to him. "…I don't know." She came closer to him, never taking her eyes off of him, and continued studying his face. She lifted a hand to his face and touched his cheek gently, much like Katherine would on so many occasions. "What's your name?"
Bruce choked on his words. He couldn't believe what was happening but it was a miracle! It took every fiber of his being not to burst out in tears before the magnificence of the glowing image of his late wife. Swallowing the emotions clumping in his throat, he placed a hand over her hand upon his cheek, something he would've done before. Other than a smooth texture and cooler temperature, it wasn't too strange. A shudder ran through the woman's body as their hands met, and she looked at him lovingly. "My name is Bruce." He told her.
"Bruce…" She echoed. "Bruce…" She repeated his name several times, and each time she spoke it with more confidence, as if it were a name she'd heard a million times. "I know that name…"
Bruce choked again, a single tear running down his cheek. "Yes, you do Katherine."
The blue woman withdrew her hand from his face and placed it over her heart, or where a human's heart would be. "Katherine…"
Bruce smiled, his lips quivering. "Yes. Do you remember?"
She shook her head. "It's familiar, but I don't remember anything."
An idea came over Bruce and he got up and took her hand. "Come with me." He said. "I have an idea!" He walked her through the house and showed her all the family pictures on the walls, her favorite chair, things of hers that he'd held onto and the view outside the house. Each thing he showed her seemed to send another shudder through her body and she would show signs of recognition, especially looking at the pictures of their children.
They sat outside on the bench they used to share when she was alive. They looked out to the lake and the trees they had fallen in love with when they originally bought the home. The closest neighbors were a quarter of a mile in either direction and Bruce wasn't the least bit concerned about anyone seeing the little blue woman. She gazed out into the lake in awe and stood up, moving slowly toward the water, but with each step her pace hastened.
"Be careful!" Bruce yelled after her before getting up and following her to the shore. She ran straight into the water disappearing beneath the surface. Bruce quickened his pace and attempted to run when she vanished under the water, but he tripped and fell to the ground hard, crying out in pain as he did so. The woman popped out of the water laughing and splashing, reveling in the element that had gifted her life. She flew through the water as if she were a bird flying through the air, effortlessly and grinning from ear to ear all the while.
"Hey!" She yelled for Bruce. "Come join me!" When she got no response, she looked around concerned and was stepping out from the lake a moment later. She ran up to him when she spotted him. "Are you okay?" She asked alarmingly. She helped him up and he was grunting in pain. She wrapped him in a hug and her body pulsed with a brighter glow than before. Bruce realized he was being held by a full-sized woman now, one the exact height and frame of Katherine when they had first met, and squeezed her back. He began to sob in her arms.
"Oh no!" She cried as her arms loosened around him. "Did I hurt you?" But Bruce didn't let her let go, burying his face into her.
"No, no, no!" He cried in response. "You could never hurt me Kat." He felt his body lighten. Suddenly, the pain from his fall had seceded, and then the arthritis in his limbs stopped throbbing. His joints no longer fought against him, and his back pain was gone. He pulled away just enough to see her body pulsing with light, but with each pulse the brightness of her glow dimmed. "Stop!" He pleaded.
Katherine pulled away and the look on her face told Bruce she was confused and hurt. "No, Kat, I didn't mean it like that." He said. "I feel a lot better, thank you, but you don't need to keep helping me if it's hurting you. Please, just a hug." They embraced one another and her body just continued glowing as it had before. "You're bigger now," he told her. "Was it the water?"
"I think so!" She said gleefully, a wide smile on her beautiful face. "Come! It's amazing!" She pulled him to the water and he stripped down to his underwear. He went in with her and she held him as she moved through the water gracefully and he found himself grinning just as much as her. The wind against his face as they sped around the lake reminded him of what it felt like to go horseback riding, free and boundless. They laughed together and by the time they left the water Bruce felt like a young man again.
When they finally went inside he showed her the family photo album she had put together in her previous life, and looking through it together it seemed like every page they flipped her eyes got bigger and brighter. "Bruce…" She said suddenly, and with a grin on her face. "I remember! Oh Bruce!" She wrapped him in a hug and kissed him. He held onto her tightly with all his soul he held her. He buried his face against her neck, his eyes glossing over.
"I'm so sorry I didn't answer your call that day!" He cried. "I had so much going on…I was going to call back but…"
"Shhhh…" Katherine shushed him as she rocked him in her arms. "It wasn't your fault honey. Don't do that to yourself." Bruce buckled under the pain of the guilt he'd been carrying around for years, blaming himself for the accident that had taken his wife's life. If he would have answered her call that day maybe things would've turned out differently. Maybe she wouldn't have died, but by the time he was able to call her back it was too late. She was already gone. She'd forgiven him…it wasn't his fault, and she still loved him anyways.
They cried and kissed and held each other for what seemed like hours. They made love, embracing one another, and talked until time itself forgot about them. He told her all about their children and their lives. Then he remembered he was supposed to call their daughter back. Katherine remained quiet as he made the call.
"Hey dad, everything okay?" She asked when she picked up.
"Hi sweetie." He said. He looked over and saw Katherine tear up at the sound of her voice. "Yeah, everything is okay. Thanks for checking in. I love you." They spoke for a few minutes before getting off the phone, and Katherine seemed sad that she could not tell her daughter she loved her as well, but so happy to hear her voice.
The next couple weeks were magical for Bruce and Katherine. They spent all their time doing all the things they used to do together, so long as it didn't involve exposing her to other people. She was fine with that because she knew no good would come of it. They held each other like they never wanted to let go, and would lie together talking all night. Bruce's heart was full again. He tried to invite the kids over but Katherine wouldn't let him. They had already made peace with her passing and she didn't want to stir anything up for them.
They spent a lot of their time in the lake. Bruce felt young again every time Katherine pulled him along the water faster than any boat he'd ever been on. She loved being in the water just as much. One of the days when they left the water Katherine found an injured bird struggling to move. She healed it the same way she had healed Bruce, and it flew away. She felt herself grow weaker, but she didn't mind. She had always had a kind selfless heart and she was now able to help in a way she hadn't before.
Another day while Bruce napped peacefully, Katherine spotted a familiar dog wandering nearby. It was one of their neighbors' dogs, a lab that the neighbor's children absolutely adored. It collapsed in a thicket of trees and Katherine approached it sensing something was wrong. She felt the animal's heart failing somehow, and her presence didn't disturb it one bit. It just lied there whining quietly. Soon the dog was as good as new and running home.
Another week would pass and Bruce noticed her glow had been slowly fading. She assured him she was fine but he did everything he could to help her. He gave her salt baths in the tub and tried taking her into the lake. He tried everything and anything he could think of but her glow just kept fading, slowly yet surely. A distraught Bruce begged her to tell him if there was anything he could do to help but she just smiled and told him he already had. Bruce promised her he'd figure something out, but continued giving her salt baths because it was the only thing that seemed to bring some of her glow back.
One night as she laid in the tub there was a knock on the door. She heard Bruce answer it and invite the visitors in. It was their son Jacob and his wife Sharon. She desperately wanted to see him, but she knew it wasn't wise. She remained in the tub and a little while later Bruce came to check on her.
"You're aging." He said sadly. "I don't want to lose you again." He kneeled at the tub, tears welling up in his eyes. "What do we do?" Katherine smiled at him and shook her head.
"None of that…the time we've had has been magical." She replied. "How is Jacob?" One look at the woman and Bruce knew he wasn't going to be able to divert the conversation back to her health.
"He's good." He said. "Carol asked him to check on me I guess. I assured him everything was fine, but he knows when I'm not okay. He insisted they stay the night." Katherine gave him a look. "I know. I tried telling him it isn't necessary, but he isn't taking no for an answer. They already unloaded the car and…"
Katherine put a finger over Bruce's lips. "Calm honey. Everything will be okay." She pulled him in close and held his head in her hands, kissing his forehead. "Our children love you. Let them love you."
Later that night as Bruce, Jacob and Sharon slept, Katherine sensed something was amiss. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but it was similar to how she felt when she approached the neighbor's dog, except different somehow. She quietly made her way through the house, following the sensation as it grew stronger and stronger until she got to the spare bedroom where her son and his wife slept. She felt life slipping away, and in a panic, she opened the door thinking one of them was in peril.
Her son and his wife were sleeping peacefully however, and a confused Katherine wandered the room double checking and triple checking that everything was okay. Jacob and Sharon were just fine, but the sensation that life was slipping away was an urgent and alarming one, begging for her intervention. She approached Jacob first, illuminating him in a soft blue glow. Her hands hovering over his body, she checked for any signs of injury but he was perfectly okay.
She moved on to Sharon, repeating the same motions with her hands and stopped as they hovered above her abdomen. She was with child. Katherine's eyes popped open, tears running down her cheeks. They were tears of happiness, and tears of sadness. The fetus was only ten or so weeks old, but something was wrong with it. It wouldn't make it through the night. She had to move quickly.
Placing her hands on the sleeping woman's stomach, Katherine began using her healing ability, and her body pulsed with light as she did so. Nothing else mattered to the mother. As she finished the process she heard a gasp and looked up to see Sharon staring at her with wide terrified eyes…and she screamed.
"What!" Jacob cried as he shot out of bed, waving his arms at an invisible intruder. "What is it?" But he saw the glowing figure in the room as the words came out. He just stared at her, tilting his head, not screaming or attempting to rescue his wife. He just looked at Katherine. Not with eyes full of fear, terror, or anger, but with eyes full of recognition and confusion. "Mom?" The words were quiet and uncertain, but Katherine smiled and nodded, tears running down her cheeks once more.
Without asking any questions, he wrapped his mother up in tight hug. Bruce watched from the hallway as they embraced each other, Jacob's shoulders bobbing up and down as he sobbed into his mother. Sharon didn't know what to do or what to say, and when her eyes met Bruce's, she finally spoke up. "What were you doing to me?" She asked Katherine.
Jacob finally pulled away from his mother and looked to his wife, and then back to his mom. Katherine wasn't sure how to respond though. Did they know she was with child? She inhaled deeply before explaining herself, but before she could get a single word out she collapsed.
When Katherine came to she was greeted by Bruce, Jacob, Sharon and her daughter Carol. They all exchanged loving embraces and Bruce, having explained what had happened that night on the beach already, let them have their time with their mother. He knew something had happened as Katherine's glow had greatly diminished and she had aged quite a bit since earlier that night. He fought the heartache growing within him. "What happened back there?" He asked after everyone got reacquainted with Katherine.
She looked at Sharon, who was locked onto her, her hands covering her stomach. "Sharon," Katherine said to her. "You were about to lose your child. I had to do something. I'm sorry if you felt violated at all."
The news came as a shock to everyone, and suddenly there was another reason for everyone to celebrate. The five of them spent the next week together being a family again. Everyone seemed in such high spirits, even Bruce's heart seemed full despite Katherine's condition and its steady decline. He was cherishing every moment he got to spend with Katherine and their children.
Finally, Carol asked what was on everyone's mind. "You can't stay, can you?"
Katherine held back her tears, shook her head, and hugged her children. "It's a miracle I got to come back at all…" She waved Sharon over and placed a hand on her stomach. "And now you get to have a miracle of your own." Then Sharon started crying.
"There has to be something we can do…" Jacob insisted, always the stubborn one just like his father. Bruce wrapped him in a hug, and kissed his forehead.
"There's only one thing left to do." He shocked himself and everyone else in the room. A strange peace settled inside of him then.
The very next evening, after a day of celebration and love, the family parked at the beach. They made their way down to the sand, stepping over driftwood and rocks, until the tide was mere feet away. Katherine was Bruce's age now, and she hugged and kissed each of her children including Sharon. They said their goodbyes, and she insisted she would always be with them. Bruce and Katherine Swan held each other as they walked into the water, just as they had on countless other occasions. Their relationship, like anyone else's, wasn't perfect, but their love for one another knew no bounds.
They shared one last hug as the moon cast its light upon them. "You're going to be a wonderful grandfather." She told her husband as she gave him one last kiss. "I love you Bruce."
"I love you too Kat," He said as he looked into the depths of his love's eyes for the last time. "I'll see you again." They smiled warmly, and as the next wave hit their feet Katherine's body collapsed into the sea, a glow dispersing with the tide.
For Katie.